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Monday, July 21, 2008

Concieve It & Achieve It!

Yesterday while adding content to my website, I watched a lifetime movie called The Devil's Diary. The basic premise of the movie is that a teenage girl finds a mysterious blank book in a graveyard one night. She decides to use the book as her diary and find that whatever evil thing she writes in the book later comes to pass.

She begins using the power of the book to hurt and kill those who have bullied and taunted her over the years. Ultimately, the book is stolen from her and it's power turned on her resulting in her death as well. It falls on her best friend to find those who stole the book and recover it before more people die.

The premise of the movie reminded me that I had read an article some time before about how writing down one's goals makes it more likely that you will achieve them. According to this article, writing down one's goals activates the Reticular Activating System (RAS) in the brain. The RAC is responsible for monitoring our senses for the purpose of sorting and evaluating incoming data. The RAC then sends urgent information to the active part of our brain and the non-urgent information to our subconsciousness. This makes us more aware of our desires and sends a message to the universe that you are ready to make positive changes in your life. By becoming more aware of your goals, you then become more open to the opportunities that will help us achieve those goals.

In addition, writing down one's goals is thought to work in connection with the Law of Attraction. The basic tenet of the Law of Attraction can be summed up in the statement "Ask, Believe, Achieve." The Law of Attraction teaches that what you dwell on inwardly, you will manifest outwardly. Therefore if you are constantly focusing on what you don't have, you'll get more of the same and nothing will have changed.

However, by clearly defining our goals (and writing them down) we then begin to shift our focus on what we do want and by believing that we have already achieved our goals, we accomplish them. For example, rather than say I'm going to have a good day, focus your thoughts on the present and repeat to yourself I AM HAVING a good day! By saying that you are going to have a good day, it puts that desire into the future rather than the present. So the "good day" that you are focusing on my manifest tomorrow or the next day, so some time next year rather than today.

With this in mind, I decided to create my own Devil's Diary, which is simply a 200 page mead notebook. To begin, I turned off the television, put my computer on mute and opened all my windows to let in some fresh air and sunshine. At my table, I lit a votive candle and turned to the first page. I began thinking about my life up to this point, my present circumstances and what I want out of life. After this period of contemplation I wrote down the following goals:

1. I want a full-time job close to home which pays me at least $12.00 an hour to do something that I am good at and something which I am both capable of doing and that I enjoy doing.

2. I want to pay my car off early. The sooner the better.

3. I want a compatible boyfriend.

4. I want a home that cannot be taken away from me.

5. I want new glasses.

6. I want to get my teeth fixed.

7. I want to obtain a healthy weight.

Incidentally, I like the idea of calling it a Devil's Diary--not because of the alliteration, or any connection to black magick or satanism. In the folk magick tradition of Hoodoo, the Devil and Satan are two different entities entirely. Through a process called syncretism, the Satan of Christianity and the Cross-Roads God also known as the Opener of the Way were combined in the belief system of Hoodoo creating the new entity called the Devil. As author and writer Catherine Yronwode writes on one of her many webpages ["The Devil] did not grant good fortune, wealth, or power, as the European-American Christian devilis believed to do. He was a teacher of manual dexterity and mental wisdom."

As American's we have been taught that there is a limited amount of abundance in the universe which is reserved for a special few. We have been taught that to consider our needs over the needs of others is selfish and therefore evil. However, there have been those who taught a philosophy of healthy selfishness. Late writer, Dr. Leo Louis Martello called his philosophy Psychoselfism, that basic tenet of which can be described as "sensible selfishness over senseless self-sacrifice."

What this means is that there is nothing wrong with being selfish at times. There is more than enough abundance in the universe for everyone, and its ok to want more than you have right now. The Devil's Diary is the place for you to voice your needs, it is your direct line to the spiritual forces of the universe. To change your life now, you need only to look deep with the well of the inner self and put pen to paper.